Unknown Soldier
by MarkWarrior
Summary: What does it truly mean to be unknown? To be alone amongst the darkness. To be in the shadows yet a part of the light. We fear the unknown. But what happens when someone embraces it? This is the story of the one who lived in ambiguity throughout the war, and yet was one of the most influential characters. Welcome, to the story Unknown and Unsung.
1. The Stand

_**Author's note: Well, I decided that in lieu of my previous Halo fic being a piece of junk to write one that has been sitting in the oven for a while waiting to heat up enough for me to write it. Previously I wouldn't have written an author's note but I'm trying to keep up with some of the trends. BTW eventually this story will branch out into a crossover but for now it will stay in the Haloverse for a little while. So, without further interruptions comments random music and death it is my pleasure to introduce the first chapter of the Unknown Soldier. Music to listen to while reading this is the entire halo soundtrack from Combat Evolved to Halo 4. Enjoy the revision. Update 12/19/12.**_

**All Alone**

_Date: December 11, 2552… _

_Location: The Ark_

_Objective: Ensure that Intel makes its way to HighCom. _

_Squad Members: Deceased_

_Medical Status: Wounded, Punctured lung, bruised Trachea, internal bleeding. _

"Hiss," the sound of something pressurized being depressurized echoed throughout the small canyon as the soldier took his helmet off for a second to examine the snowy canyon with his own eyes.

The Soldier suddenly doubled over and began to cough violently as blood began to pass from his mouth onto the snow. After several minutes of coughing up blood the soldier reached into his armoured rucksack and began to look for any biofoam that might not have been used up on any other human soldiers during this battle.

Nothing; that was what the soldier found; nothing, knowing that this wasn't the worst injury that he had sustained in his thirty something odd year career he shrugged off the pain and did what he did best, ignore pain and do what is necessary.

The soldier picked up his ODST helmet from where it lay, and brushed off the snow that obscured the blackened visor. His armour was red; blood red if you were trying to be specific, with slashes of white and black thrown in. It was part of the effect, to cause your foes to cower and be afraid of you and scatter was something akin to a work of art.

"Athena," The soldier whispered; "I need you to get into the Covenant Battlenet and find out where in this canyon they are so that we can hold them off while the Chief finishes the flood."

"I'm on it," replied Athena.

"Then lets get this party started" whispered the soldier in ODST armour. "Turn on playlist _Last chance_ and start with The Warrior song Hard Corps"

__The music began to play through the soldiers external speakers as he began to lay traps and set up his firing line.

The amount of weapons and ammunition that the soldier carried on a regular basis would have weighed down anyone but a Spartan. The soldier's list of weapons wasn't long, but he did carry enough to kill a small army by himself.

Now that the preparations were finished, the soldier climbed to the top of the canyon and ran a titanium fiber rope over to the other side where he had a grappling hook attached. Now that the line was secure the soldier climbed to the middle of the line and carefully created a loop for his foot to ease into as the soldier flipped into an upside down position.

The soldier had left his MA5B assault rifle down in the canyon were the soldier would land when he fell.  
Armed with only his SRS99C Sniper rifle the soldier watches as brutes began to file into the places that he had carefully placed traps in anticipation of the brutes stumbling upon them and withering their own numbers down before he had to directly engage them.

Seeing that the brutes were right on top of his carefully placed C-12 the soldier brought his Tacpad covered right arm to his line of sight and sent the encrypted detonation code to the remote charges.

The initial explosion tore at the very least a dozen brutes apart before the shrapnel even reached the rest of the brutes withering them down another dozen.

The brutes; as the soldier had expected, scattered in all directions and stumbled upon even more traps which would take them out in groups of twos and threes.

From their original seventy five the brutes were now down to thirty five which proceeded to be whittled down until there were only fifteen left alive, and most of those were wounded.

The soldier then proceeded to use his Sniper Rifle to great effect causing the numbers to be decreased to one before they even heard the source of where his shots were echoing from. Dropping from the cable, the soldier did a back flip before landing on the ground, drawing his M6D pistol and killing the last brute with a shot to the head.

After holstering the pistol the soldier reached up and caught his sniper rifle out of the air before reloading and placing it onto the magnetic plate on his back. Snatching his MA5B out of the snow where he had hidden it, the soldier proceeded to make his way towards the main pack of brutes that were there waiting for the "Red Devil" to come.

Making his way over the snowy white cliff, the soldier crept up on an unsuspecting brute before drawing his heavy 12' Titanium laser sharpened knife and stabbing it right behind his ear. Without a sound the brute sank into the snow, his purplish blood staining the snow as the soldier made his way to one of the two Scarabs parked in the middle of the snow white valley.

Knowing that he only had at least ten minutes before the brutes discovered that one of their own was dead the Soldier carefully climbed his way up the Covenant Purple Scarab. Just before he reached the top, the soldier unholstered his M6D and peered over the platform using the scope. The soldier saw many sleeping grunts and one chieftain who strode down into the bowels of the Scarab. Easing his way up onto the platform, the soldier made his way over to the core of the Scarab. Prepping his last charge of C-5 the Soldier set a thirty second timer, after flicking the switch that activated the timer. The soldier then sprinted out of the core room and dove off of the Scarab.

The soldier hit the ground and rolled, almost dislocating his shoulder in the process. Coming out of the roll, he brought his MA5B up and began to mow down Grunts and Jackals that were sleeping or shieldless.

Replacing his extended clip with a fresh one the Soldier took cover behind one of the old Forerunner walls that dotted the landscape. As he took cover the Scarab exploded with a blinding flash, causing the other Scarab to react and face the wreckage that now helped to cover the Soldier as he carefully made his way underneath the Scarab. Ducking beneath one of the pieces of leg the soldier peered around the wreckage, counting multiple brutes dropping to the ground beneath the Scarab.

The soldier snatched his SRS off of his back and peered through the scope. Lining up the best shot possible the soldier eased his finger into the trigger. The rifle jerked back into the soldier's shoulder as the round sped at supersonic speeds into the head of the brute, continuing on to ricochet off of the Scarab's leg and hitting another brute in the spine.

The SRS spat out three more shots before ceasing its fire and allowing the confusion sown to come to fruition. The soldier, after reloading his SRS, traded out for his MA5B. The soldier sprinted towards the brutes, spraying those closest with short controlled bursts and bringing them down with the most minimal effort. Firing his Assault rifle with one hand the soldier reached for his M7S SMG strapped to his left thigh and began to unload 5 x 23mm FMJ rounds at the brutes on his left. Shooting down a brute that was carrying a Fuel Rod gun on his back the soldier rolled, grabbing the Fuel Rod gun and as he came up he fired all five rounds into one of the legs of the Scarab, temporarily crippling it. Dropping the now spent heavy weapon the Soldier in blood red ODST armour ran towards the open troop bay of the Scarab and swung up while firing several rounds into the grunt manning the plasma turret stationed there. Carefully taking the time to ensure that the area was clear for a moment, the soldier paused for a moment and took the time to reload both his Assault Rifle and his SMG before placing his MA5B on his back and extending the stock on his M7S. Crouching slightly the soldier made his way up the ramp of the Scarab to the main platform.

The soldier heard a roar as soon as he entered the open expanse of the platform before being charged by a behemoth of a brute. This chieftain had no power armour on and instead seemed to have an overshield and gravity hammer similar to the Fist of Rukt.

The brute charged the soldier at a staggering speed as the soldier emptied his entire 48 round clip into the brute with no noticeable affects whatsoever. The Soldier backpedaled and reached for his sidearm, which he snapped up with an efficiency born of scenarios just like this. Firing his entire 12 round clip into the head of the enraged chieftain finally caused it to stumble as the powerful 12.7 x 40mm HE rounds struck with great force. The soldier dropped his sidearm and finally reached for his ultimate backup weapon, an energy sword that had been a gift from a now dead Elite Major. Squeezing down on the handle the superheated plasma blade activated and the soldier drove it deep into the brain of the chieftain as it began its charge again.

Deactivating the energy blade the soldier gathered his weapons and reloaded them, now using his MA5B with its 7.62mm rounds instead of the M7S and its smaller stopping power.

Easing his way around the side of the Scarab the soldier policed the grunt that was manning the Plasma Turret. The soldier, spying two Plasma grenades on the body of the grunt snatched them up and made his way to the core room. Placing the first Plasma grenade carefully to dispose of the shield, the soldier activated it and ducked out of the core room while the Core's shield was down. Running back into the room the soldier threw the final Plasma grenade into the core room while he made his way off of the Scarab.

The Scarab exploded with the blue flash of Plasma as the soldier hunkered down in the snow. Standing up the soldier drew his MA5B and looked around, now noticing the horde of angry brutes surrounding him.

"Athena," the soldier whispered. "How many are there?"

"Ninety Eight by my count" Athena replied in a worried tone.

Athena then paused and said the thing that made the soldier worry the most. "I'm worried that you may not make it out alive in this one."  
"You're not the only one." The soldier whispered back. "I'm probably going to die during this one."

"I'll com for help," Athena told the Soldier.

"No, I'll do it". The soldier whispered and then cleared his throat.

"This is Sierra Zero One Zero requesting immediate reinforcements."

There was nothing but static on the com for a few seconds while the entire horde was waiting for the soldier in ODST armour to make his move. Then; all of a sudden, a voice burst through the com "This is the _Shadow of Intent_ we read you loud and clear we are withdrawing from the Ark we cannot send reinforcements, we are with you in heart brother."

The soldier nodded, expecting as much he then drew two weapons that he had been saving for a little while out of his rucksack; a grenade launcher and a set of specialized napalm rounds for it. Loading the round into the launcher the soldier fired into the horde that was now charging him at reckless speeds. Using the launcher until he ran out of rounds the soldier dropped it and drew his MA5B firing in short controlled bursts, the soldier brought down another dozen brutes with three clips before the brutes were too close for him to use his standard weaponry. The soldier reached for the weapons that he rarely used because they were gifts from now long dead heroes. Drawing his customized energy swords the soldier began to cut into the masses of brutes that were coming at him. Slicing one brute in half the soldier pivoted on one foot using his momentum to launch into a back handspring slicing another two brutes to pieces.

The soldier continued to demolish the horde but even those who seem unstoppable must wear out eventually. The soldier having taken some hits during his rampage had suffered more internal organ failure. His punctured lung was threatening to collapse and his kidneys were now suffering from severe contusions.

Extinguishing his energy swords the soldier began to collapse onto his knees. Looking around the soldier saw the smoldering battlefield that was lying around him. Bodies and craters were everywhere, spent shell casings littered the ground and weapons were scattered all over the battlefield. There were still some brutes left alive and that included their chieftain so the soldier began to stand up again.

Drawing one of his combat knives the soldier shuffled slowly into a combat stance. Two of the remaining brutes charged at him while the soldier braced for the impact and readied his response. Sliding underneath the brute in the lead the soldier swept the brutes legs out from underneath him and brought his knife down in a stabbing motion into the brutes head. Leaving his knife there the soldier quickly rolled over to the remaining brute and fired his sidearm into the crotch where there was a bundle of nerves. When the brute doubled over the soldier finished him off.

Turning to face the remaining chieftains the solder barely had time to react, rolling out of the way to avoid the gravity hammer that impacted the space where he had just been. The shockwave sent him flying despite his efforts to avoid it. Causing the soldier to impact on one of the pieces of wreckage that littered the area.

The soldier grunted and examined his body before noticing the dislocated shoulder. Grabbing the shoulder with his hand the soldier quickly popped it back into place before his body could recognize the pain that it was going to feel. Grunting, the soldier quickly reached for his weapons that were on his back only to discover that they were twenty meters away laying on a rock. Sprinting to his weapons the soldier examined them for damage and seeing nothing, the soldier placed them back into their normal places while drawing his M7S.

Ducking underneath a hail of radioactive green bullets the soldier returned fire, taking down another brute before turning and running to another piece of cover.

"Athena," the soldier whispered. "How many are left?" as the soldier removed his helmet and coughed up another slew of blood onto the snow. Replacing his helmet on his head the soldier listened to what his partner had to say.

"There are ten brutes left," Athena said. "Two majors, six brute captains and two chieftains; one of the chieftains is wounded and should take only minimal effort to take down."

"Roger that," the soldier replied as he began to spray the majors with 5 x 23mm FMJ rounds. Using their confusion to his advantage the soldier threw his last grenade at the brutes. The resulting explosion left him with eight brutes to kill. Turning and drawing his M6D at the same time the soldier emptied his twelve round clip into the head of a brute captain causing its power armour to fail and the HE rounds to sink into its head before causing it to explode. Reloading, the soldier reaching into his rucksack and drew out a weapon that many would call outdated, holding twenty laser sharpened shuriken out before throwing them at the one captain that was left out in the open. The first five struck the power armour with enough force to cause its shields to start to fail; the remaining fifteen tore the brute to pieces. Knowing that the remaining six brutes would be enrage the soldier snuck behind the wounded chieftain and ended it with a knife to the neck.

Five brutes remained. The soldier was in pain and was unable to move fluidly. His movements were jerky and he was having trouble breathing. Using all of his stealth skills the soldier assassinated the remaining four captains and collapsed onto his knees in the middle of the broken battlefield. Coughing up blood inside of his visor the soldier felt a hand grab his neck and hoist him up in the air. The chieftain was holding him up above him and was about to choke him to death. The soldier felt the grip on his neck tighten and everything in front of him started to go black but before it did the soldier reached for the one thing that he had left in reserve. Drawing a plasma grenade from its hidden place in the small of his back the soldier jerked his arm forward and let the activated explosive fall to the feet of the brute. The chieftain panicked and threw the soldier into the air as the explosive detonated, taking down the brutes power armour and leaving him with minimal protection.

The soldier, activating one of his energy swords threw it at the brute as it jerkily stood to its feet. The bluish white superheated blade went all of the way through the chieftain, coming to rest against a lone rock standing in the middle of the field.

The soldier hobbled over to the sword, picking it up and placing it in its rightful place on his hip. Taking off his helmet the soldier gazed upwards at the exploding ring above him. When he used the scope on his SRS the soldier spotted one last thing. The ship that was his last hope, _The Forward Unto Dawn _was leaving through the portal.

Sighing; the soldier sat down on the rock, turning his helmet over in his hands. Allowing his hands to wander over his helmet he felt something that he hadn't felt in a long time. Four characters that while placed on his helmet would never be shown to the world. Those characters were the characters. S010.

Looking around him at the devastation that he had caused, the soldier took Athena's chip out of his helmet and reached into his rucksack for a holographic projector. Upon seeing her red headed figure in ODST armour the soldier relaxed slightly.

Turning to her the soldier whispered." Is this all that I am meant for? Useless destruction and violence that leads to nowhere."

Athena just gazed up sadly at her soldier who had fought so valiantly. Knowing that there was nothing she could say or do.

The soldier then gazed up into the explosion that was soon to reach them and said to his faithful AI companion. "I guess this is it." The soldier whispered to Athena, "Our final op before being forgotten and becoming both dust and echoes."

"Thirty years of service and we have done much for our race," Athena replied as the soldier inserted her chip back into his helmet. Turning and grabbing his SRS off of his back the soldier looked at the one thing that tethered him to his life. The two names carved into the sides of his rifle. Alice and Linda, those names held significance beyond what most people would attach. For one held the title of Daughter, the other Friend.

Deciding to face his final and greatest Journey with a resolute and hardened face the soldier turned and looked at the explosions making their way towards him.

Feeling a pull on him, the soldier reacted with a speed that few had seen. Turning and being pulled into the inky blackness that awaited him.

_**Author's Note: Well, I hope that you guys don't think my character is overpowered, he is extremely skilled but will face many adversaries to get to the stage that he is at now. And the truth of the matter is that this is both the ending and the beginning of the fanfiction. We will be working backwards from here starting with the beginning. This is the story of the Unknown. Will you continue to read it? This story isn't for the faint of heart. The soldier will undergo many many difficulties before he reaches this area in life. Also, this is going to end up becoming a massive crossover fiction after the main Halo Backstory is finished.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's Note: Well, since I'm currently revising all of my chapters with new and updated material that is more relevant to the storyline. Beware, this will be flashback chronicles from here on out due to the fact that I'm establishing his past. There will be many different jumping places. Chapter 3 will be first encounter with the Covenant while the current chapter is set for a different date. **_

Family, Right?

_Date: September 5__th__ 2527 _

_Location:… Classified_

_Objective: Classified._

_Squad members: N/A_

_Medical status: Recuperating from previous injuries in the field. Severe third degree burns on 50% of the body and several deep tissue lacerations._

"Dr. Halsey will see you now Chief Petty officer" A young MP said as the door hissed open.

The Chief just nodded as his dress uniform sparkled in the varying light of Castle Base.

Making his way down several corridors; eventually he came upon a door with two more MPs standing there.

"Sir, if you would look into the retinal scanner and say today's password."

The Chief just nodded and looked into the retinal scanner while reciting the day's password.

The doors opened to reveal a largely cluttered space with coffee cups littering the floor and desk inside.

Dr. Halsey looked at several classified documents before coming to the project that she was currently working on; upgrades for the Mjolnir Mark IV armour system. So far, all of their efforts to produce a variation of the armour that wouldn't kill an unaugmented human had failed.

Looking at the list of people who were visiting her today she saw the person that she had thought to be at Harvest. Unshockingly, he had also been promoted two rates.

"Hmmm," She muttered to herself. "Only sixteen, and yet has already experienced more war than half of our forces." Looking over his files some more she found something that shocked her more than anything else. "A daughter!" She exclaimed as she gripped the edge of her desk with a white knuckled grip. Reading the file some more she came to an understanding and calmed down, allowing her hands to regain their normal colour and her flushed face to return to its usual composure.

"So, he's here to finish our deal." She thought out loud.

"Maam, we have a visitor for you." A voice over the intercom said.

"Send him in." Dr. Halsey ordered.

The Chief Petty Officer walked down the hallway to the final door. When he reached it he stopped and took a deep breath before activating the scanners and waiting for authorization to enter the sanctuary of Dr. Halsey.

The door opened and he stepped through. He saw the person that he once considered a mother figure. Standing in the doorway he waited for her to invite him in and finalize their deal before never seeing eachother again. Standing there the he reminisced about when he used to be a part of everything, one of the members of the family. Now, he was the one who was ultimately removed from his family and cast aside. Gathering his iron will once again the lone naval enlisted man moved in front of the desk of the infamous Dr. Halsey.

Dr. Halsey fidgeted impatiently while the young man slowly walked into her office and stood in her doorway for several seconds before moving to stand in front of her desk. Looking into his eyes she saw sadness and a depth that surprised her.

"What do you want?" Dr. Halsey asked. Already knowing the answer but wanting to hear him verbalize it.

The young man tried to speak but nothing came out but a garbled mess of a moan. After several tries, the young soldier finally was able to speak at a low whisper.

"I want a companion." The young man uttered at the lowest whisper known to man. "I want a smart AI."

"You are aware that smart AI's have a functional capacity of only seven years." She said

"Yes, but that doesn't matter as I'll most likely be dead myself by the end of seven years" he stated as strongly as possible at a whisper.

"Are you aware of the procedures used to manufacture smart AI's?" asked Dr. Halsey.

The wounded young man just nodded and stood there silently.

Dr. Halsey sighed and decided to relent to his final request of her before he never saw her again. "Alright, I'll do as you ask M****** but you are never to speak to the Spartans again even over the COM channels." She ordered him. "Not that anyone can hear you anymore after what happened," she muttered.

"Who do you want it to be modeled off of?"

The man snapped to attention and spoke one word. "Linda"

Dr. Halsey nodded, expecting that answer.

"I expect that you will be modifying your own armour to suit your needs and I will inform you of when your AI is finished and we will plan a testing date of which you will be notified. "

He nodded and said two words that Dr. Halsey never expected after what she did to him. The young man turned to her and said, "Thank you."

"You can leave now." Dr, Halsey said.

The sixteen year old man with the weight of the universe on his shoulders just turned on his heel and walked out of the office, prepared to face the whole of creation once again if only to regain something precious to him.

After the young man had walked out Dr. Halsey turned to her computer where Deja was listening to everything from. "He is going to be great." Dr. Halsey said. "If only I had a hand in it." Turning to her classified files Dr. Halsey turned to her desk once again, pulling out a pencil and a notebook, she scribbled several notes down. Turning to her computer she pushed one button, and everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's Note: Well, I'm about to jump feet first into hell once again. This is the true beginning of the soldier's story as he starts into the Great War. The next three chapters or so (Including this one) will contain flashbacks and will show more of the character of the soldier as he is one of the first to encounter the covenant in the great war. A quick shout out to someone who made an epic connection The Guest Calypso is someone who spotted something cool that I didn't even plan. He gets an entire plateful of my infamous virtual white chocolate chip caramel cookies. Songs to listen to while reading this chapter are anything by Escala or classical music mixed with modern themes. Without further ado I present to you the third chapter of The Unknown Soldier. **_

Scorched Earth

_Date: April 20, 2525_

_Location: Scout ship Argo; Slipspace, just outside of Harvest. _

_Objective: Investigate Harvest planetside while the CMA ships investigate scout ship Argo._

_Squad Members: N/A._

_Medical Status: Functional, still slightly recovering from slight augmentations._

"Sir!" The junior officer shouted from his navigation console. "We're dropping out of Slipspace in twenty minutes."

The Commander nodded at the officer and turned to his com station. "Make sure that our guest is awake." He said." We need him to be ready to drop when we come out of Slipspace."

"Aye aye sir." The Communications officer said as she turned back to her console and rapidly danced her hands across the console.

The cryotube hissed open while the young boy with the body of an Olympic athlete stepped out onto the cold titanium surface. Bending over the child soldier coughed up a foul tasting fluid before he spat it out into a grate kept nearby. Turning towards the nearby showers, the boy quickly made his way over where he turned on the coldest water available and lathered off the cold sweat that he had just developed. Stepping out of the shower the soldier quickly put on a black skintight bodysuit that was meant to be worn underneath ODST armour during engagements. Maneuvering himself carefully in the zero g environment that was the Argo he opened a door and pushed himself into the sole ODST drop bay aboard the _Argo_. Opening a closet, the soldier grabbed an ODST BDU and began to snap the legionnaire looking armour into place. Grabbing his helmet he paused and stared into the blackened visor. Was he doomed to be just another unknown soldier doing his job in the frontlines and never knowing what would happen to his family or was he someone who would be remembered, infamous or otherwise? Sighing, he placed his helmet on his head; becoming another faceless soldier for the first time. Activating his HUD the soldier looked at the internal clock and wondered how much time he had before they exited Slipspace.

"This is Lieutenant Junior Grade Hardy," a feminine voice echoed through the intercom. "We will be exiting Slipspace in fifteen minutes and counting, all UNSC personnel report to your designated areas."

The child soldier now cloaked in ODST armour shrugged and moved to the compartment where his weaponry was stored. Pulling out his M392 DMR the soldier quickly moved to place it in the weapons bay of his HEV IV. Grabbing his SRS99C the soldier placed that inside of his weapon bay before grabbing his final weapon; an M6D, the soldier went ahead and placed his pistol on the magnetic plates attached to his thigh. Checking his internal clock the soldier noticed that he only had five minutes left before he had to drop into the atmosphere of Harvest. Over the Com channels of his helmet a voice came through informing him of his mission objectives once again. The soldier closed his eyes and began to pray for his safety and the safety of the people on the ship as well. After his prayer he began to double check his equipment and especially his pressure seals. It would suck heavily if his suit wasn't sealed properly when he wasn't in the atmosphere yet.

"Exiting Slipspace in three, two, one," The Navigations officer said as real space entered their view.

"Send our guest on his way". The commander ordered.

"Yes sir," The Weapons officer said as he punched in the command to launch the lone HEV on its way.

"Adjust current heading to grid A-5 by J-1," The commander ordered. "I want eyes on whatever caused this to happen to one of our planets."

"Sir, we've got something" the Navigation officer said as a purple colored bulbous shaped thing came into their view.

"What is that thing Lieutenant?" the commander asked.

"I have no idea, it was just sitting there on the other side of the planet." The Navigation officer replied.

"Sir, it appears to be arming weapons." The Weapons officer said

"Arm all Archer Missile pods A through F, get ready to fire at them. The Commander ordered.

"Aye aye sir." The female Weapons officer replied. "Arming Archer missile pods A through F.

"Course correction, set course for three four seven degrees, declination zero six." The commander ordered.

"Aye Sir, setting course three four seven degrees declination zero six." Said the Navigations officer as his hands danced across the controls.

The other bulbous craft began to face the _Argo_ firing pulse lasers at the scout ship.

The plasma flashed across the empty space coming to a stop in the engines of the _Argo._

"Sir, we have engine overload in five minutes, heat is two hundred degrees Celsius and climbing!" The Operations officer shouted.

"Reroute all controls to my station" The commander ordered. "Tell everyone to get to the lifeboats."

"But sir," one of the bridge officers protested.

"That's an order" the commander sternly stated as a stubborn fire blazed in his eyes. "Get on that lifeboat now!"

"Aye sir," the officer said and the bridge crew of the CMA _Argo_ made their way aboard the lifeboat assigned to them.

The commander quickly set in a collision course for the alien ship that had fired at them. While the thrusters were on full blast the alien ship fired its last weapon at the scout ship. A plasma torpedo sailed across the black expanse coming to a stop in the explosion of the _Argo. _Another spent life.

Meanwhile, the child soldier made his way down into the atmosphere; deploying his thrusters at the appropriate time, slowing his entry onto the planet of Harvest. Striking the ground the soldier primed the door explosives and blew the door off of the pod. Grabbing his weapons the soldier quickly jumped out and cleared the immediate area. Walking up a hill he saw a sight that made him stop and stare. The space before him where once was fields and food grown for all of the colonies was now glass, nothing but glass and shadows of what it once was. Swapping his DMR for his SRS the soldier began to inspect the horizon with his scope, hoping to find some sort of life beyond what he currently saw. In the distance, several hundred KM away stood a lone house. Moving back to his pod the soldier quickly grabbed his ammunition and supplies before beginning to move towards the house.

"Deploying drag chutes" The pilot of the Bumblebee class lifeboat said as it slowed down to ease to a landing near the HEV IV.

"Okay people let's crack this pod open and see what kind of Champagne that the CMA left us." The XO of the now destroyed _Argo_ ordered.

A chorus of "Aye sir" answered him as the junior officers began to strip the pod of anything useful.

Meanwhile, the soldier was jogging across the field of glass careful to keep an eye out for anything that might be trouble. Stopping at the top of a hill to scout out the area in front of him he looked up at the sky only to see a brilliant flash of a second sun for a brief second. Knowing that the protocol for lifeboats was to link up with current ground forces the soldier turned around and began running the thirty klicks back to his pod.

"Sir, our com channels are down." The Communications officer said as she fiddled with their communications kit.

"Are you sure?" The XO asked.

"Wait," The communications officer said. "I'm getting something on the UNSC High Band."

"It's a warning from an AI Mack." She said, pausing to listen to the headphones again. "He was warning us away from Harvest, something about a Covenant."

"Has anyone seen that ODST yet," the XO barked rather than asked.

"Yessir," one of the officers said. "He's ten klicks out moving this way."

"Alright people," the XO said "grab your gear let's meet this Foxtrot midway."

The bridge crew of the now destroyed CMA scout ship _Argo_ began to grab the weapons and gear that they had stripped from the lifeboat. Grouping together in a loose formation they began a steady jog towards the trooper cloaked in ODST armour.

The soldier stopped at the 5KM mark and began to survey his surroundings remaining on the alert while waiting for the CMA officers to meet up with him. There was no cover to be had so while nothing could sneak up on him or the CMA officers they would be able to see the military officials even from hundreds of KM away. Looking at his internal clock the soldier began to realize just how much the augmentations had affected him. Everything was as if in slow motion and fast forward at the same time. This would take some getting used to. Grabbing his SRS the soldier began to inspect it for any visible and invisible flaws that he could fix. Eventually, his eyes came to rest on the name that was carved into the left side underneath the scope. Linda.

Flashback no Jutsu.

"_I want you to be in the same teams as yesterday." Ordered Chief Mendez. _

_A young team of three turned and began to analyze the" playground" as it was called._

"_We can go through there, it's one of the ways that no one else will see because it's hard." A boy with dark brown hair said. _

"_Alright", the redhead said as they both turned to the final member of their three man team. _

"_What'd you think?" the two six year olds asked the one who had yet to speak in the two days that they had known him._

_The boy with blond hair and brilliant blue eyes just shrugged and nonverbally agreed to their plan. _

"_Okay then," the brown haired boy said._

"_Same order as before?" the girl asked._

_They both looked at the blond as he nodded._

_On the signal that Chief Mendez gave they began to run towards the path that they chose. Climbing up a rope wall at a speed that the other two envied the blond quickly helped the other two up before they continued their run towards the bell. Using the final rope they climbed to the top and rang the bell one at a time. The redhead stumbled after she slid down and the two boys picked her up and carried her across the finish line. Chief Mendez looked at the team, catching all three of their eyes, and nodded approvingly. _

_The children sat down on the other side of the finish line and began to talk amongst themselves while waiting for the other children to finish ringing the bell. _

"_Good job Linda," The brunette boy praised as they had finished first._

"_We all did good," Linda said, "Even you Fred"_

"_You're real funny." Fred joked, "You know that." _

_They both turned and looked at the other person on their team as he spoke for the first time. _

"_My name is M*****" The blue eyed boy said." Would you like to be my friends?"_

_The other two children nodded and said yes. They began to walk towards the building that held their supper, friends for the rest of their lives._

Eight Years later

_Dr, Halsey walked around the halls of the medical wing that held her Spartans. Opening the door that held the final and smallest Spartan she gazed upon the face that concealed an intelligence that rivaled her own. Seeing his fourteen year old body shake as the life altering chemicals began to enter his system. She turned away for a split second before tuning back to look at the Spartan that she had quite possibly broken the most. _

_Linda woke up in the medical bed that she had been assigned and turned to see Fred sitting in a chair waiting for her to wake up. Trying to sit up Linda collapsed back onto the cot and watched as two nurses brought a wheelchair into her room. Fred moved his own wheelchair over and glared at the nurses who just stood there as he helped her into her own wheelchair. _

"_Where is he?" Linda asked._

"_Last door in the hall," Fred replied "We can both be there when he wakes up."_

_The two nurses who stood there then moved and began to push the wheelchairs towards the door at the end of the hall. _

"_How long were we out?" Linda asked._

"_I was out for a week," Fred replied, "You were out for a week and a half."_

_Linda just nodded as they finally reached the door that held their first teammate and best friend. Opening the door, they saw his body shaking and shivering underneath the thin hospital sheets and gown. It was one of the most painful things to watch, their best friend convulsing because some chemical was causing his body to change. They watched his heart monitor for a couple of minutes and held his hands as he shook his cot with his small five foot eight inch frame. Turning to go check on the others they heard his heart monitor become erratic and then heard the one thing that no one ever wanted to hear in a hospital. Dr. Halsey rushed into the room followed by several other doctors and nurses that quickly ushered the two Spartans out of the hospital room. _

_The doctors were able to stop the young boy from entering Rigor Mortis after twenty minutes of close calls and finally getting his pulse to reach acceptable levels. The doctors and nurses walked out of the room, leaving Dr. Halsey the last one in the room. Turning towards the cot she smiled. Glad that her plan had worked so well. One of the chemicals that she had placed in his injectors was one that causes a temporary death like state. It was the final chemical to enter his body and was the solution to the plan she had for at least one of her Spartans to be free to choose. _

_The boy woke up with a gasp, as if coming up from a long swim holding his breath. Looking around him he immediately knew that the area around him was not the room that he had started his augmentation procedures in. Turning towards the lone figure in the room he spied Dr. Halsey._

"_You are dead." She said._

_The young boy just stared at her with a raised eyebrow as he felt pain which made him very much alive._

"_You are dead to the Spartans." She said, "You are now free to leave and live a civilian life."_

_The boy tried to speak but his voice didn't exist anymore. So using sign language he communicated his wishes to her._

"_I want to be with my family" he said, using his hands._

"_I'm sorry." Dr. Halsey said. "But that is impossible."_

"_Then give me a place in the ODST program." He communicated. " If I can't be a part of my family then I will join a new one." _

_They discussed many more things such as things that she could do for him and he refused to acknowledge most of it, instead settling for the things that would help him to better both himself and those around him._

"_Very well," a defeated Dr. Halsey said. "I will give you one more gift of your choosing at the time when you wish it." _

_The boy just nodded and looked out the window that was facing away from Dr. Halsey._

_Not wishing to speak anymore. _

_Dr. Halsey walked out of the room and the boy hoped to never see her again._

_Laying his head down on his pillow, the soldier closed his eyes down and whimpered as the blackness overtook him._

Flashback no Jutsu end.

Blinking away his memories the child soldier turned towards the CMA officers and beckoned them over to him. Using sign language he told them about the house that he had spotted earlier and informed the arrogant XO that in his opinion it was their best chance of survival. The CMA officers groaned when they saw the distance that they would have to cover in order to reach the lone standing house. The child soldier just ignored them and began to jog towards the house. The officers looked at each other and shrugged before following the pace that was set by the soldier cloaked in ODST Armour.

_**Author's Note: Well, another chapter finished. I guess I'm getting better at this, even though I feel like I didn't use the flashback well. Oh well, I guess that I'll leave it up to you guys to decide whether I did well or not. Child language is hard to write so I had to look at some of my siblings and the way that they speak in order to figure out how to write the six year old speech. Anyway, I plan on having at least a chapter or two out a week. Ciao **_


	4. Chapter 4

Scorched Earth Part II

_Date: April 27, 2525_

_Location: Epsilon Indi system, planet designate Harvest._

_Objective: Inspect ruins of Harvest for any and all survivors while awaiting arrival of UNSC help._

_Squad Members: Bridge crew of CMA Argo along with several Marines_

_Medical status: Recovering from augmentations. Symptoms, bleeding eyes, random dizziness, and bleeding in both ears and nose._

The Soldier cloaked in ODST armour walked outside of the lone house in this glassy wasteland as the bridge crew started another argument about how to get a message to the UNSC or CMA. The two marines in the group followed him out and they all began to create a perimeter, using their gear to set up sensors for thermal, and motion.

The squad underneath the young soldier began to file watches for the night as they had done for the past week while waiting on the bridge crew to make a decision. Lance Corporal Jamie Everett turned to stare at the only person who hadn't said a word the entire time they had been on the destroyed planet Harvest. The lone ODST trooper who was mysterious and dark, he never seemed to overexert himself, only using the minimal amount of effort required to accomplish a task. The most interesting thing though was that he didn't really present himself like some other Helljumpers that she had met. He was patient and didn't seem to have the sarcastic jerk that most ODST had. Turning to go inside so that the trooper could take first watch, Jamie was met by one of the bridge officers.

"Tell the Petty Officer that we need to speak to him." The Lieutenant ordered.

"Yes maam." Jamie replied as she saluted and turned smartly towards the listening post that they had set up.

"Hey!" Jamie yelled while banging on the door. "The higher ups want a word with you."

The soldier just opened the door to Jamie and looked at her behind his polarized visor while nodding.

"Geez," Jamie Muttered to herself. "Will he ever take that helmet off?"

Brandishing her MA2B Jamie walked into the shed turned listening post and sat down in the chair beside Sergeant Jacob Williams.

"Creeps you out too." The Sergeant stated more than asked.

"I just want to know what is behind that helmet" Jamie Replied. "I mean, what could he be trying to hide, a scar of some kind?"

"I don't know, but I do know that he's an ODST and those guys are insane." Williams said. "I don't trust him."

Meanwhile, unknown to the soldiers inside the listening post the soldier had heard every word. He sighed and continued his slow trek to the lone house, not enjoying having to deal with the stubbornness of officers. The soldier was about ready to reveal his mission and use the authority granted to him by HighCom and ONI to assume command of the operation and get things done. But, the soldier decided to give them another twelve hours before he resorted to something like that. Opening the door the soldier walked through the entryway lined with equipment and weapons towards the dining room. The dining room had wood paneling and a tile floor with a heavyset pine table stained dark with the lacquer used to prevent it from rotting. Turning towards the weary officers the soldier nodded at them and stood in the doorway, waiting to be invited in.

They were going at it again. Lieutenant Morgan Smith sighed as the Executive officer and the Operations officer began arguing about how to continue on and receive help. The only thing that those two agreed on was that they needed the ODST to come in and help make the final decision. Seeing as the troopers listened to him more then the naval officers. The XO turned to Morgan after she sighed and sent her after the lone man cloaked in ODST armour. Grabbing the sidearm that she had left on the table, she buckled the holster around her left thigh and went to the door. Walking through the hallway she opened the door to the outside and saw the Lance Corporal.

"Tell the Petty Officer that we need to speak with him." Morgan ordered as she turned away and walked back inside, just barely hearing the "yes maam" that followed behind her.

Several minutes later Morgan was the only one that noticed the man in black standing there waiting to be invited in. Seeing him nod at them in hello she gestured for him to enter and take a seat. He walked in, but he didn't sit down; in fact, he stood on the opposite end of the table from the two arguing and waited for a pause in the argument to jump in on. When both of the two stopped for breaths the soldier slammed his armoured fist down on the wooden table hard enough to crack it and glared at both of them behind his visor. Looking at the datapad sitting on the table, the soldier picked it up and began to enter sensor and picture data from the last satellites left in orbit along with his plan for evacuation. There were several locations that were not turned into glass but yet also held several small towns that would probably have supplies of food and other equipment.

The bridge crew gathered around the datapad and began to look at the data gathered for their use. They noticed the suggestions that the soldier had made and began to take them into account. After only five minutes of debate, the entire bridge crew decided unanimously to use the plan outlined by the his notes. Turning to thank him the bridge crew noticed that he was gone. Deciding to go look for him they entered the hallway and saw that he was packing their spare supplies into several rucksacks including the weapons and ammo with an efficiency that made them look on in amazement. Seeing him turn to them and nod they watched as he walked outside to the listening post and began to use hand signals to order the marines about and get organized so as to move towards the town that they had discovered. Seeing the marines pick up sensors and pack up equipment into their own rucksacks spurred the officers on and they began to pick up assorted gear that they had scattered about during their arguments.

Meanwhile, the soldier once again disappeared from their sight temporarily while heading to the garage in the back where he had seen two trucks and a civilian Warthog variant. Starting the ignition sequence, the soldier noticed that the Warthog had an excellent stereo system where he proceeded to play a music that would annoy anyone. (The RedvsBlue music when the reds are driving there Warthog.) Before driving it out to the front of the house to be loaded up with weapons. The trucks would be for the officers seeing as the Warthog had more weapons capability.

Thirty minutes later after everyone was set and ready to make the 800 KM trip. The remaining crew of the scout ship _Argo_ began their eight hour drive.

Jamie was in the passenger seat of the Warthog watching the glassy terrain pass by as the three vehicle caravan drove at 100 KMH to their destination. Quietly humming to herself, Jamie examined the other occupants of the vehicle. The Sergeant was asleep in the back and had been for the past two hours. He kept nervously gripping his DMR and muttering in his sleep. The driver; that ODST, had been at the wheel for _hours_ he didn't seem to need sleep because even when they had stopped so that drivers could switch an hour ago he hadn't even moved except to watch the other people in the caravan. He was odd, he never spoke except in sign language and even then never seemed to convey emotion of any kind. Before joining the Marines, Jamie had taken several martial arts classes and was trained to read body language to be able to tell if people were threats or not. She couldn't get a read on this guy despite how hard she tried to analyze him. He was an enigma. And enigmas mean trouble when it comes to life in general. Grabbing a set of wireless earphones Jamie placed them over her ears and began to listen to music as she drifted off to sleep glancing at the soldier one last time before everything went black.

_**Author's Note: Well, I decided to make this a three part chapter because it is far easier then making it one long chapter. Along with the fact that it makes the time that everything takes place seem like it is realistic. I plan on updating as often as possible when school allows me to along with life in general.**_


	5. Chapter 5

Scorched Earth; Legacy.

_Date: September 29, 2525_

_Location: Epsilon Indi system, Planet Harvest_

_Objective: Withstand waves of unknown enemy contacts_

_Squad Members: Lance Corporal Jamie Everett UNSC Marines, Sergeant Jacob Williams UNSC Marines, Lieutenant Morgan Smith CMA. Other Squad members marked KIA._

_Medical status: Squad members are fatigued and hungry but otherwise are clear of any injuries. ODST has multiple deep tissue lacerations and second degree burns. Three broken ribs and a damaged lung, along with recovering from augmentations. Medical status for ODST is at optimal functionality._

"Get down!" Lance Corporal Jamie Everett screamed as she dragged the only remaining officer from the scout ship _Argo_ down into the hastily dug foxhole. "Are you Trying to get yourself killed?"

"I was trying to see how many are left in the current wave" Lieutenant Morgan Smith replied.

"And?" Jamie replied.

The young officer sighed as she replied "Too many".

The lance corporal moved her head up to peer around her MA2B cutdown Assault rifle and squeezed off a burst at one of the doglike creatures that was attacking their foxhole. The creature went down with a barking noise and the hissing of the weird tank thing on its back.

"Where is the ODST?" Jamie shouted to Sergeant Williams who was twenty feet away firing his DMR at several of the creatures that were exposing themselves out of the smoked area before ducking down to avoid the return fire.

"He's up on the rooftop about to Snipe these Demons from hell." He replied.

"But he only has eight shots left." Smith yelled to the other two as she used her newly acquired M7 SMG to return fire on the never ending horde of demon creatures.

A sniper rifle cracked twice, leaving six dead bodies in its wake as the vapor trail slowly faded. Twice more the muzzle of the SRS flashed striking multiple targets with each shot. Before the bodies of the first twelve even hit the ground the soldier had reloaded and fired his last SRS magazine minus one shot into the horde of enemies. Placing his SRS on his back the soldier grabbed his DMR and began to empty rounds into the enemy while jumping off the roof rolling to absorb the impact. Using his momentum the soldier swung his DMR up and fired four rounds killing another four of the small stocky creatures before coming into a crouch and firing two more shots dropping another two creatures. The soldier then began to sprint with violent intent into the enemy, brandishing his twelve inch combat knife like a skilled assassin would and taking down one of the short stocky creatures with a blow to the neck, quickly yanking it out and throwing it at another creature before jumping down into the foxhole to join the other three.

The other three just gaped at him openmouthed as he just continued to pump out more 7.62mm rounds into the enemies as if nothing had just happened and it was an everyday occurrence. Looking at the other squad members the soldier quickly signaled them for an ammunition count seeing as they were going through their ammo more quickly then they would be able to keep up for long with the amounts of enemies that were closing in on them.

"Sir!" Jamie yelled, "We have enough ammo for another ten minutes of continuous fire."

The soldier just nodded and made several hand signals for the other three to fall back to the vehicles that were hidden with extra weapons and supplies that they had found in the now destroyed town.

The three acknowledged his command and began to back up in an orderly fashion, using pieces of cover that they had moved into position for just this sort of contingency. Sgt. Williams laid out suppressing fire as the two females of the group shifted towards the closest piece of cover. Sgt. Williams, while not as accurate as the ODST was still dropping the Demons as quickly as they appeared in his scope. Pumping out five more 7.62mm rounds, the SGT. Swapped to his sidearm and began to back up towards where the women were while firing more rounds into the enemy. The ODST on the other hand looked down into the foxhole and spotted a brace of four Fragmentation grenades that had left to be used as well as a MA2B ICWS the cutdown version of the MA5B grabbing the grenades and slotting them into their respective holsters, the soldier swapped out his DMR for the MA2B and began to fire .390 caliber rounds into the onslaught of enemies. Throwing a grenade into a cluster of twelve, the shrapnel throwing frag grenade quickly decimated all twelve and threw body parts into the air while scattering the remainder of the enemies that were beginning to gather en masse for a massive wave. The soldier dropped his emptied magazine and began to unload into more of the short, Bipedal, and doglike creatures while being sure that they were not closing in on the rest of the newly formed Fireteam. The soldier threw the remainder of his grenades, knowing that the other three would arrive in the Warthog soon so that they could make good on their escape. Right as the last grenade blew apart several of the little devils the Warthog arrived from the East, plowing into four of the short creatures and one of the split-lipped ones before coming to a screeching halt in front of the foxhole. Jumping out of cover, the soldier grabbed both the MA2B and the DMR before jumping into the back of the Warthog while continuing to fire on the remaining enemies; using the greater mobility to his advantage, they then began to speed away at a steady 125KPH pushing the engines to the redline.

…Three hours later…..

Lieutenant Morgan Smith sighed as she looked at the three others that were grouped around the Warthog as if it were their last chance for survival in this broken world of Harvest. The only one of them that didn't look worn out and just plain exhausted was the ODST; but every one had heard stories about the ODST's and some of the crazy stunts that they had pulled over the years. The ODST stood in the middle of the field recharging a DMR Magazine nonchalantly while looking around at everything to ensure that they were secure for the moment. Seeing the ODST turn around Morgan watched as he inserted the magazine into his DMR and racked the charging handle back before releasing the magazine and storing one more bullet into it, cheating the amount of rounds that he could fire by one. The ODST, seeing that the Lieutenant was looking at him nodded at her and began to stride back to the Warthog in measured paces, Sitting down beside the Warthog and leaning his head back.

"Have you slept since the beginning of the attack?"

The soldier just shook his head now and stared off into the distance once again.

"Look at me." The Lieutenant ordered.

The soldier turned his helmeted head to her and began to look at her from beneath his blackened visor.

"You are going to go to sleep while the others and I keep watch for the next four hours." She said, "We'll wake you if something happens."

"Got it?" She asked.

The soldier nodded and shifted his body into a more comfortable position but left his weapons within reach and his hand right beside his M6D Sidearm. Slowly nodding off as everything went black.

_**Author's note: Well, I once again have been able to update due to life finally allowing me a chance to catch up. ROTC is killing my time to write and do homework effectively. However, I still enjoy competing and the way that my life has been turning. God has been working in my life and has been just working on a change in me. I hope to be able to update soon. Your belov3d author Mark.**_


	6. Chapter 6

Scorched Earth: The Final Act

_Date: March 3,2526_

_Epsilon Indi system, Planet Harvest_

_Objective: Hold LZ until evacuation of Fireteam can be accomplished_

_Squad Members: Lance Corporal Jamie Everett UNSC Marines WIA, Sergeant Jacob Williams UNSC Marines, Lieutenant Morgan Smith CMA WIA _

_Medical Status: Lance Corporal Everett has a class B concussion and five broken ribs. Recommend Immediate Medevac. Lieutenant Smith has a broken arm and four deep tissue lacerations along her right torso, internal bleeding. Recommended Immediate MedEvac. Sgt Williams has several second degree burns along torso and legs needs sleep but otherwise functional. The ODST trooper has severe internal bleeding and eight broken ribs, mild contusions in both kidneys and eighteen extremely deep tissue lacerations along most of torso third degree burns along forty-five percent of body. Recommended recalled for urgent Medical care. Chances of that actually happening… N/A_

Small pieces of light streamed back and forth between the human and the now known Covenant lines as they exchanged fire throughout the night. Using his VISR mode the soldier cloaked in ODST armour inspected the two unconscious females of their Fireteam. They had been on the move continuously for almost thirteen months; Periodically stopping at abandoned towns and places that had yet to turn into glass for extra ammunition and food. During that time the other three had become closer to each other and began to treat each other like family. The soldier had understood their camaraderie but hadn't joined in because he had felt separated from them due to his unusual circumstances. However, they had developed teamworks skills on par with that of the most veteran of soldiers, oftentimes knowing what to do before the other's mouths even opened. Now though, they were down to two functioning members due to unforeseen circumstances. None of them had predicted the arrival of UNSC forces right on top of their beacon, causing all of the Covenant forces to search them out; Or the fact that there were a new type of alien that they had to fight. The apes had almost torn them to pieces before they had taken them out with several well placed mines.

"Eat lead you alien scum!" Sgt. Williams shouted as he began to take revenge on the enemies that had taken out his sisters.

The soldier simply stood up out of the trench and used his DMR with pinpoint accuracy striking targets at the maximum range and sometimes even beyond. The soldier dropped down into the muddy trench and picked up Everett in a fireman's carry and began to carry her through the trenches towards the pelican that was supposed to take the wounded up to the ships for medical care. Stopping at a side trench and gently laying Everett against the side the soldier turned and saw the flicker of the invisibility that the Split-lips had. Raising his DMR the soldier fired one 7.62mm round before a plasma encased glowing sword cut the barrel off of it. Backpedaling, the soldier drew his sidearm and began to fire at the head of the red armoured Split-lip, using himself as a distraction so that the Lance Corporal would be safe from any immediate attacks. Turning, the glowing sword cut down deep into the soldier's shoulder before coming to a stop. Before the alien could withdraw the sword, the soldier drew his combat knife with his left hand and stabbed it up into the neck of the split-lip, causing it to sputter and collapse. The soldier then gripped the brightly burning sword and ripped it out of his shoulder before the pain could set in. After several seconds; the soldier screamed loudly and then quieted down and moved back to the Lance Corporal. Spying an MA5B in the trench, the soldier grabbed it and hauled the Lance Corporal onto his back in the fireman's carry once again while making his way to the Evac zone. The soldier had to clear out several trenches along the way before finally dragging the wounded Marine onto the Helipad.

Sgt. Williams, having made it to the Evac zone via a different route saw the Lone ODST and called out to several Medics who quickly ran over and began to check the Lance Corporal over while the Sgt. began to inform the Soldier of what was about to take place.

"Their about to have a major offensive push to try and take back the city," The Sgt said.

"They told me that I was to report to Vice Admiral Cole to offer any intelligence on these aliens that I might have." He paused for breath. "I just wanted to thank you for helping all of us to get out of that Hellhole alive."

The soldier nodded as the Sgt. climbed into the blood tray of the Pelican Dropship as the ship began to take off. The Sgt. turned around and saluted the soldier one last time before the hatch closed and the dropship entered space.

Turning around, the soldier spied several cans of Biofoam that were lying beside a dead medic's body. Walking over to her, the soldier retrieved the Biofoam and closed her blue eyes before collecting her Dog Tags and bowing his head to pray over her soul.

Standing up, the soldier snatched the Assault Rifle off of his back and began to run down the trenches towards the frontlines. Once he reached them the soldier crouched and began to work his way over to the CO of the frontline unit. The Major was crouched in a tent maneuvering troops in such a way as to flank the enemy while they still had air support.

The major, turning to see who had entered the tent saw and ODST and said "Thank my lucky stars; we have ourselves an honest to heaven ODST here." Quickly regaining seriousness, the major explained that the ODST was needed to bolster the morale of the troops on the frontlines. The soldier nodded and signed to the major that he needed ammunition for his SRS so that he could provide more of a fire support role as well as a morale boost to the troops.

"Lieutenant," The major said as he beckoned to one of his staff." I want this man to get ammo and I want it yesterday!"

"Yessir!" The lieutenant responded and reentered the tent a few minutes later carrying a crate of various kinds of ammunition magazines.

The ODST grabbed a half dozen magazines for each of his individual weapons and nodded his thanks at the LT before moving out of the tent and towards the frontlines. Arriving at the final and farthest trench, the soldier finally removed his SRS from his back and inserted the first fresh magazine that he had had in thirteen months. Peering through his scope the soldier spotted several squads poised to take out several dozen Marine and Army personnel. The soldier, using his SRS to great effect sniped the leaders of the alien squads and began to pick the small ones off one by one. Using the trenches to his advantage he would kill a leader and then maneuver into a position so that the aliens could never pinpoint were exactly he was.

….Six hours later….

Sighing, the soldier sat down on an ammunition crate and began to pull his armoured rucksack off of his back and dug out a can of Biofoam, inserting the nozzle into his shoulder so as to hold it together until he was able to get proper medical attention. The foam stung like an entire herd of ants crawling up into his shoulder and chest cavity and biting down. Drawing in a forced breath, the solder allowed the numbness to settle over his body before turning and seeing a medic run towards him as everything went black.

_**Author's Note: And this concludes the very beginning arc that I'm using to establish OC's that will be appearing later on in different areas throughout this Fic. The next chapter will be about the soldier meeting Vice Admiral Cole and showing him how the Covenant system works. I hope to actually establish some emotions in the next chapter as well because he will be experiencing some flashbacks as he wakes aboard the Everest.**_


	7. Legend of Solace

_Date: December 11__th__, 2527_

_Location: Planet Solace, Delta tranquillitas system_

_Objective: Evacuate military forces._

_Squad members: Deceased_

_Medical status: Injured, Lacerations across most of left torso, Torn Achilles tendon and three broken ribs, two cracked ribs and internal bleeding, bruised internal organs and dislocated shoulder that has been reset three times damaged trachea and vocal cords, punctured lung._

"Get Up!" A female voice bounced around the darkness. "Come on, get up." It echoed again.

"Arise!" A different voice commanded. "I am not yet finished with you."

"GET UP!" The voice commanded one last time as it finally pierced the veil preventing it from being heard.

The soldier jerked up off of the ground blinking the blackness out of his eyes as he came up in a crouch. Seeing his helmet lying on the ground a few feet a way he stumbled over to it and placed it back on his head.

"Welcome Back." A warm female voice echoed through his helmet. "You were out for a while there."

The soldier just nodded as he stopped, and surveyed the field that he was in, having been thrown a dozen meters when the plasma mortar had detonated in front of him. There were craters and bodies from both sides scattered everywhere. It seemed as if they had killed eachother off completely while the he was unconscious.

"You have to stop pushing yourself so hard." Athena muttered into his ear." There _are_ two of us in here now remember."

"I know" he whispered back as he picked up his sniper rifle from its resting place beside him.

"There is a planetwide order to evacuate." The rendezvous point is a hundred and twenty Kilometers west of here at the city of Pax.

"Are there any vehicles nearby?" The soldier asked in a whisper.

"There is one operational Mongoose left one Kilometer to the south of our current location. " Athena replied.

The soldier stumbled onto his feet once again and began to limp over to where his rucksack had fallen when he was thrown into the air, picking it up he inspected the inside and saw that his PMP Mk. 6 Portable Munitions Plant was still functional. Scooping several spent clips of 7.62mm Ammunition he placed them into the reloading slot and then closed the flap that led to the PMP and placed the leftover grenades that he had into the top of it. Looking around at where he had found his rucksack, the soldier spotted his M7S SMG lying on the ground beside a pile of bodies. Hobbling over there, the soldier stooped down and gently picked up his M7 and placed it on his left thigh above his tactical EMP hardened hard case. Seeing a spent MA5B he stumbled over to it and picked it up as well.

Now fully rearmed, the soldier cloaked in ODST armour began the slow shuffling gait that wounded soldiers have. Finally, after maneuvering his way around rubble and destroyed vehicles and lives, the soldier saw the flipped ATV and began to shuffle a little bit faster then before so that he could make it to the evacuation point ASAP.

Reaching the ATV, the soldier saw that there was quite a bit of plasma scarring left over from the battle. Squatting down, the soldier grabbed the side of the flipped vehicle and lifted it upright once again, his torn Achilles tendon groaning in protest. He swung himself over the seat slowly due to his injuries and started the engine on the agile machine that had a nasty habit of being easily flipped.

Shifting into first gear, the he began to speed off towards the west, hoping that the city would still be there when he arrived.

Fifteen minutes later…..

"One of our destroyers, the _Vengeance of Cole_ just crashed fifty klicks south of here!" Athena said in a worried voice. "All personnel in the immediate area are ordered to the destroyer to evacuate personnel and to assist in the retrieval or destruction of their Navigation data crystal."

"Acknowledged," the soldier replied.

He turned the mongoose to his right and began to speed towards the towering wreckage that was the remnants of the once mighty destroyer. Pushing the small ATV past the redline and began to travel at nearly 250 KPH towards the crash-site.

When he arrived, the soldier dismounted the Mongoose and grabbed the MA5B ICWS assault rifle off of his back and began to make his way towards one of the airlock doors. When he reached it, he saw that it was the airlock that led to the engineering and AI core section. Turning to the keypad, the soldier entered a standard override code that he had been given for situations such as this. The door hissed open on emergency power and as the soldier stepped into the dimly lit corridor it shut behind him. The soldier chinned his HUD's VISR mode waited as the rest of the hallway was indirectly lit and outlined in different colours by the advanced night vision. There were scorch marks on the walls and multicolored blood spatters all along the floor.

"Continue down this hallway fifty meters and turn left into the service corridor" Athena told him.

The soldier just continued making his way down the corridor, maneuvering himself carefully to avoid fires or cables that were hot with electricity. Stepping over a piece of the ceiling that had collapsed; he heard a cough come from somewhere. He lit a flare, keeping his VISR mode on so as to better see in the dimly lit environment. There! Beneath a large section of a door was a leg outlined in green. The soldier replaced the Assault rifle on his back and crouched down while gripping a good portion of the door and heaved it up and to the other side of where the now identified human was. Stooping down; the soldier quickly evaluated the health and overall well-being of the young female officer. She had broken her ankle and had a concussion as well as several deep burns across her lower back and shoulders.

Taking great care, the soldier eased the young ensign up onto his back in a Fireman's carry and drew his sidearm as he made his way further down the hallway and entered the service corridor. It was even darker in the corridor, he could barely see the turns as he navigated his way through the waypoints given to him by Athena.

Easing the young female officer down into a leaning position in the service corridor, the soldier swapped his sidearm for his M7S and opened the door leading into the AI core and engineering area of the once mighty destroyer.

"Wait," Athena told him. "I'm receiving a handshake protocol from another UNSC AI"

"Well, don't be rude." The soldier paused in his steps while waiting for Athena to give him further instructions.

"The A.I. I am communicating with is the UNSC Smart-AI FHJ-567289 Framherja" Athena told him. "We need to move to the AI core room and remove her from the core."

"Framherja is nearing the end of her operational life span." Athena reported. "We have the option of terminating her if deemed necessary according to the Cole Protocol."

"Not going to happen."

The soldier then made a sweep of the hallway to ensure that it was clear of all hostiles. He then moved back to the service corridor and carefully picked the unconscious female form off of the floor before moving into the hallway and to the Engineering and AI core area. The soldier paused as ambient light faded in through his visor and caused his pupils to constrict and become used to the new light. He saw the fusion reactor, essentially the heart and soul of the once mighty _Cole_; its light was wondrous and a marvel of modern engineering. The soldier turned of his helmet's VISR mode and allowed him to see naturally again he began to look around, searching for a medical locker so that he could treat the wounded ensign that he carried before he finished his mission. Looking to his left, he saw a medical kit strewn on the floor in front of the entrance to the AI core.

Walking over to the Medkit, the soldier stopped for a second and eased the young woman down and set her gently in a leaning position against the wall before gathering the scattered supplies into a small pile and crouching down in front of the young woman.

He stopped and considered his own injuries before he stopped that line of thought and removed the top of the thin gray uniform and eased the young woman down to the deck as to protect her dignity. The soldier then began to apply anti burn ointment to the burns on her back and shoulders as well as placing the broken ankle in brace and wrapping her bloodied head in a bandage before administering a healthy dose of polypsuedomorphine to her bloodstream and checking for any further injuries that the makeshift medic might have missed. Seeing nothing after his inspection, he redressed her and leaned her back against the wall gently so as to not aggravate her wounds.

The solder, seeing that there was still a bottle of Biofoam left; inserted the nozzle into his armour near his broken ribs and emptied half the can into his injuries before organizing the rest of the medical supplies and placing them in to his armoured rucksack. He then turned and entered the override code for the AI core room and cleared the inside of it before making his way to the center of the room and stopping in front of the holographic pedestal.

"Stop!" a feminine voice echoed through the AI core.

"Don't come any closer."The voice repeated. "I don't want them to see the way I am." It distressed again.

"Athena," The soldier said "What is going on?"

"The other AI is entering the beginning stages of Rampancy."

"Ahh." The soldier nodded. He had heard of the term and its connotation before.

"Well, don't just stand there you gorilla." Athena muttered into the soldiers' ear. "Do something."

"Hey," The soldier whispered to the distraught Smart AI. "It is going to be okay."

"Really?" Framherja asked.

"Yes," he replied confidently. "I am absolutely sure that you are going to be okay."

"But UNSC standard protocol is to destroy all rampant AI's"

"Nobody will have seen anything." The soldier stated. "I was told to destroy the ship anyway; I'll report that the AI core was destroyed when I reached the reactor."

"Alright," The still quiet AI replied. "Uploading runtimes into data chip."

The soldier nodded and waited for the chip to appear at the part of the pedestal where the data crystals were formed.

"Thi… UNSC…ca….ing all pers...ll ord…ed to d..st,,,y a.. Arti…cal Intellience." A sudden voice burst through the soldier's com as he reached down to remove the data chip from the pedestal.

"This is UNSC AI ATN-65231 repeat last transmission" Athena projected over Fleetcom.

The message just repeated itself over again as the soldier opened his tactical EMP shielded Hard case and placed Framherja's data chip into the small storage space. He then moved out of the small room and picked up the wounded female as he activated VISR mode once again and made his way into the darkened areas of the ship.

"Athena." The soldier whispered, "Are there any Warthogs left in the vehicle bay?"

"Affirmative" She replied, "there is one troop transport LRV left in the bay."

"I'll wait until we've left the ship to blow its fusion core than" Framherja butted into the conversation.

"That would be nice of you" the soldier whispered back sarcastically.

He began made his way back to the service corridors and had to maneuver several ladders and dead ends before ending up on the floor that the vehicle bay was located on. He then repeated the maneuver that he had done many times before, placing the wounded ensign out of danger while clearing the vehicle bay and checking the vehicle before going back to move her to the Warthog.

The soldier removed the troop transport pod from the back of the LRV and jury rigged a cushion and rails on the now bare back of the LRV. He then picked the woman up bridal carriage and eased her down into the bed of the now converted LRV.

The soldier proceeded to jump into the driver's seat and drove at a steady pace of 120 KPH for about thirty minutes before giving Framherja the go ahead on the detonation of the fusion core at the heart of the crashed destroyer. The ground shook as a massive shockwave of dirt and light moved out from the explosion. The soldier just held onto his speed and continued in the direction of Pax, where the main evac zone was located; Expecting to make it there within a few short hours.

_**Author's Note: I am sooo sorry for the late update. I was doing too much stuff at one time. I actually had most of this chapter written in the beginning of February but I was waiting for another author's permission to use their character as an AI in my story; Hence Framherja. If you have any question, I might be tempted to answer them if you review…. or just PM me, That works too. **_


	8. Legend of Solace, Part two

_Date: December 31__st__ , 2527 Time 1650 Local time._

_Location: Planet Solace, Delta tranquillitas system_

_Objective: Reach Evacuation zone alive_

_Squad members: Ensign Asa Ericksdotter_

_Medical status: Injured, Torn Achilles tendon, two cracked ribs and internal bleeding, bruised internal organs, damaged trachea and vocal cords, punctured lung. Ensign Ericksdotter: Minor Concussion, second degree burns across most of lower back, recovering from shock and possible sole survivor syndrome._

He stumbled, catching himself on the wall as he dropped the smoking M6D from his bloodied fingers onto the ground. He sucked in several deep breaths; breathing in the sweet oxygen that was now able to course through his lungs once again. He eased himself to the ground and hugged his knees as the once cloaked elite hit the ground with a thud that echoed throughout the mostly empty building. Cautiously picking up the dropped sidearm, he released the magazine and caught it before it had reached the ground. Taking the time to recharge it helped calm his nerves. Finally able to stand once again, he made his way into the hallway, struck by the dim lighting and flickering bright lights. He was disoriented, dizzy, unable to remain on his feet very well and so he stumbled; again and again. His trembling hands held his sidearm in front of him, jolting at the slightest noise or possible movement. He continued this way down the entire hallway; stopping at the closed door. As he reached for the door switch, he heard the sound that all the men and women of the UNSC dreaded in close quarters. He turned at the sound and managed to see and Elite uncloak as it stabbed its superheated plasma blade through his chest before throwing him against the wall. The Marine grabbed a grenade off of his vest; pulled the pin and released the trigger before the Elite grabbed the grenade and threw it down the hallway where it exploded, leaving scorch marks and shrapnel spotting the area.

She jerked awake with a gasp, striking her right hand against the wall. She frantically scanned the room, looking for someone or something familiar. Finally, her panicked eyes settled upon a figure that was in the darkened corner of the room. The black reflective visor showed that he was human at least. She threw off the blankets that were enswirled around her, revealing that she was wrapped in bandages and some civilian undergarments. When she panicked and began to hyperventilate, the figure hidden in the shadows stepped out, revealing the form of a man (Or woman) cloaked in ODST armour. He carefully and purposefully made his way to the side of the injured UNSC officer and waited patiently for her to calm down.

Ten minutes Later…

The soldier, enswirling the young woman in blankets, gently picked her up; making sure that he didn't touch her burns. He than carried her over to the cot that she was on originally and set her down before rolling her onto her stomach so as to not sleep on her burns. He also laid a set civilian cargo pants and a brown blouse on the table that lay in the corner beside the mattress that he had commandeered for the young ensign. The Soldier grabbed his Sidearm and several clips and laid them on the table, knowing that when she woke up she would want something to protect herself with. He also left a shotgun that he had found in another level of the building leaned against the table with a dozen eight gauge shells.

The Soldier bent down and picked up his rucksack and several Lotus Antitank mines that were lying against the wall, along with several blocks of C-5 Plastic explosives. As he made his way down the hallway, he placed Lotus Mines on the ceiling and C-5 inside of walls with impunity, preparing the area for a heavy assault just in case anything were to locate the wounded UNSC officer inside of the empty building.

Finally finished; he made his way back to the room where they had been holed up for the past two weeks, leaving the deactivation codes for the explosives on the table beside the weapons in a datapad. The soldier also barricaded the area in front of the door and had a comlink set to the same frequency of his helmets Comlink set out on the table and was prepared to leave to search out the source of the earlier explosion. The soldier had thought that there were no more survivors in the city, but he amended that he may have been wrong. As he walked out the door, he looked back at the one under his protection one last time….

Two Hours later…..1900 hours local time.

The soldier chinned his VISR mode active once again as he cleared one of the rooms of the building adjacent to the one where he had hidden the UNSC supplies and personnel that he had saved. A grand total of one so far, he had made it into the city just in time to see the last civilian evacuation transport vanish under a barrage of plasma; and hadn't seen any sign of any other survivors, military or otherwise. While the covenant and UNSC air forces clashed he had moved quickly to the closest building with a steel frame and walls and had holed up in there for the past few weeks while taking care of the wounded Ensign.

Turning into a hallway, he paused and crouched while simultaneously drawing his MA5B and flipping the safety off. There were three spent shell casings from an M6C civilian variant lying on the ground next to a puddle of human blood and the corpse of an elite ranked ultra class in front of a door. The soldier crept forward and stepped over the corpse, not making a single sound until….. "Snap-hiss" an energy sword emerged from the hand of an Elite directly behind our hero. Spinning around, the soldier brought his MA5B up and fired 7.62mm rounds directly into the center of the elite, exhausting his entire clip as he backed away before throwing his Assault rifle at the oncoming enemy and sliding between the legs of the huge creature, drawing his knife out of its sheath on his chest and leaping onto the Elite, wrenching its head back and jamming his knife all the way in past his mandibles.

Stepping back, he stumbled over the body of a dismembered marine and hit the ground as a beam of superheated plasma passed directly where his head had been but a mere second ago. Drawing his M6D, the soldier raised his pistol with one hand, firing off a snapshot and waiting for the body of the now dead jackal to hit the ground before being on the move once again. The ODST retrieved his knife and flicked the blood off of it before sliding it back into its resting place. He than kept on moving down the corridor. Where there is one Jackal and an Elite there are many. When he reached the Marine once again, the soldier paused and knelt beside the long dead human. Reaching for his eyes and closing them before removing his dogtags and depositing them amongst the hundreds of others that he had in his chest pocket. He said a word of prayer over the soul of both the Elites and the Marine before moving on.

When he reached the door, it slid open invitingly, as if to say "Welcome, we've been expecting you for some time. Death has been waiting for you". Drawing his sidearm in one hand and his knife in the other, he walked through the door. A pitch black room awaited him, causing him to activate VISR mode once more as he began to inspect what was the largest cache of Covenant weapons he had ever seen. There were human weapons there as well. Waiting the arrival of some odd member of the UNSC to retrieve them and put them to the use that they were designed for. The soldier quickly moved to the human weapons and; reaching into his rucksack, drew out an ammo bag that he had scavenged from one of the earlier marines that he had found. He then proceeded to pack all of the ammo for his SMG and Sidearm as he could fit inside the bag and then picked up a DMR and examined it, searching for any modifications or imperfections before deciding that it was acceptable and placing it onto his magnetic plate. When he reached the explosives, he grabbed all of it. He placed C-5 in enough places to cause a chain reaction and take down the building with it and picked up the grenades and C-12 to bring with him back to the hideout. On his way out, he spied the prize of all weapons leaning against the wall. There, gleaming in the light from his helmet was an SRS, not _his_ SRS mind you, but still, a sniper rifle was a sniper rifle and that was his main skill. He grabbed the rifle and slung it onto his back next to the DMR and grabbed another rucksack that he had found in the pile of human weaponry and stuffed a hundred and twenty rounds worth of ammunition into the rucksack before drawing his sidearm once again and leaving the forsaken place to its singular fate.

Thirty minutes later… 1950 Local time.

"You know." The soldier muttered to Athena as he dodged yet another grunt's clumsy plasma grenade throw and finishing it off with a well placed headshot from his sidearm, "Maybe blowing up a skyscraper wasn't such a bright idea in hindsight."

"Well, Hindsight is 20/20 or so they say." Was her comeback."

"Yeah, well next time tell me to wait until I'm back in the hideout to detonate fifty Kilos worth of plastic explosives." He snarked back.

"Aff!" Athena replied, "Well bargained and done."

"What the heck was that?" He asked as he made a dash for the building that the ensign was hidden in.

"Oh!" Athena exclaimed. "I have been researching this so-called science fiction that you told me was interesting and found a 'universe' called battletech. There is apparently a race of elite warriors called clans, and they seem similar to Spartans."

"Ah, I already know all about that universe."

"Well than, I guess I'll just have to wait until you need me again."

"You can always stick around you know."

"Yeah, but your mind is kind've depressing so I try to distance myself from it." Athena replied with a smirk in her voice.

"That's where I get that sarcasm that you love so much though."

"Oh really!" Athena replied with a raised imaginary eyebrow. "I'll have to look into that."

The link between the ODST and his AI closed as he finished off the last jackal with an armoured boot to the face that crushed the skull. Reaching down, he grabbed the jackal shield generator and made his way to the staircase.

Opening her eyes slowly; she groaned and rolled over to try to get more sleep saying "No, let me sleep." Before she gasped and sat up, she had forgotten that she was not on the destroyer _Vengeance of Cole_ anymore. Realizing that she was half naked, she stumbled out of the and looked around at her surroundings. There were two entrances into the room, one was a bathroom and the other led into a hallway. There was rich carpet underneath her feet and a bedside table to her right. Seeing what was on top of the bedside table, she grabbed a hold of the clothing and made her way into the bathroom. Admiring how amazing the furnishings were before taking a shower and redressing in the clothes that someone had laid out for her. The cargo pants were one size to large in the waist but there was a belt so it would have to do. The shirt fit perfectly and allowed her to enjoy the feeling of civilian clothing again. Walking out of the bathroom, having brushed her hair and put it into a ponytail, she walked over to the bedside table and picked up the M6D; inserted a clip and pulled back on the charging slide before clicking the safety on and tying the holster to her right thigh and doing the same thing to both the M7S and the shotgun before grabbing the comlink and placing it in her ear. Just as she was about to tune it to FLEETCOM she noticed the Datapad on the table. Reading it, she sat on the bed and began to think back on the events of the past year. The Covenant were annihilating the outer colonies, and they could only do so much to protect humankind before they were wiped out by the many races that made up the Covenant.

There! She heard something. She grabbed the M7S and flipped the steel table over to use as a barrier as she aimed at the doorway. As she was about to squeeze the trigger, she heard a standard UNSC handshake protocol and lowered the weapon as the door opened and a tall man cloaked in bloodied and blackened ODST armour walked through the door with a large amount of weapons and ammo in his arms. Depositing his load onto the ground, the soldier knelt and took off his rucksack and detached his dark red chest plat from the rest of his armour. Grabbing a can of Biofoam out of the medical supplies, he emptied the entire canister into his chest wound before sitting against the wall and gasping for precious oxygen.

After several minutes of gathering fresh air into his lungs, the soldier cloaked in ODST armour grabbed Athena's chip out of his helmet and inserted her into a holographic pedestal before crashing back against the wall and waiting for the comfort of the inky black.

_**Author's note: Happy Easter Everybody. Christ arose from the grave, what better reason do we need to celebrate the awesomeness of our God. I'm sorry for not updating recently but life caught up with me again. I actually had most of this chapter typed up but I forgot to save it and my computer crashed and conveniently decided to not reclaim the document. Oh well, I guess that stuff happens. Anyways, I'll update faster if I get more reviews so remind your friends to review not just read and nod and enjoy the fanfic. "Dynamic exit!"**_


	9. Legend of Solace Part three

_Date: January 2__nd__ , 2528 Time 0730 Local time._

_Location: Planet Solace, Delta tranquillitas system_

_Objective: Survive._

_Squad members: Ensign Asa Ericksdotter, Unknown SCPO._

_Medical status: ODST: Dislocated kneecap, third degree burns over 60% of body. Ensign Ericksdotter: Minor Concussion, second degree burns across most of lower back, recovering from shock and possible sole survivor syndrome._

Asa looked at him, analyzing his burnt and battered body. What he had gone through to acquire those burns had to be something that she wouldn't be able live through. There were burns everywhere, but the most intense burns were located on his legs. Somehow, he even had burns close to _there_. Anyone else would be dead. His legs and torso were blackened or red. His arms were pale and his face was shadowed by the faint markings of a beard. He had blond hair that was matted with sweat and oil from his skin and streaked with silver and red. He had a scar on the left side of his face right underneath his eye. The scar stretched from his left eye to his left ear. His face was haggard, as if he was desperate for something. His breathing was shallow, struggling for the smallest breath. His armour was charred; the red and white paint was blackened and sooty. His body burned with a temperature higher than most could stand to even be close too. Asa was sweating just being near him, as the soaking wet cloth that she had laid on his forehead dried out from the heat she switched the rag for another one and laid the warm one in the ice cold water.

"I told you, He'll be fine" Athena sighed irritatingly at the ensign.

"How fast does he heal usually?" Asa asked the AI.

"He doesn't heal." Athena looked away from the officer.

"What do you mean he doesn't heal?"

"He doesn't stop often enough to get healing. He normally retains injuries until he is forced to get treatment aboard a ship or he isn't able to continue fighting."

"How is he still alive than?"

"I have no idea at all." Athena sounded off frustratedly, "All the calculations and scenarios I have run turn out to be wrong, EVERY time."

"Aww," the soldier moaned out. "I didn't know you cared 'Thena'"

"Now he wakes up." Athena said. "Sleep well?"

"No not really," he struggled to get out in barely a whisper. "But the service is pretty nice."

"Really now?" Asa interrupted "Because I can stop and let you do this yourself at any time."

"Sorry." He whispered.

"You're forgiven." Asa responded. "But you need to go to sleep now, you haven't recovered from your injuries yet."

"I'll be fine." He whispered as he began to get up out of the bed before she pushed him back down again.

"No you won't." She said as she began to apply anti-inflammatory salve to his burns. "When was the last time you slept?" then interrupted him before he could answer. "Don't answer that, I know you haven't slept in a month except for being unconscious." Now lie down and rest."

6 hours later…. 1400 local time

He sighed as she finally went to sleep in the chair by his bed. Picking himself up out of the bed, he went to the linen closet and changed the sheets before picking ASA up bridal style and laying her in the bed and covering her with the blankets and wiping the few strands of hair out of her face. Picking up the M6D that was left in her chair, he placed it on the bedside table and then proceeded to grab a set of black ODST fatigues out of his rucksack. Then; he eased over to the bathroom where he proceeded to shower as much dirt and soot off as he possibly could before changing into his fatigues and cleaning his wounds out before applying antiseptic ointment and injecting himself with antibiotics. Tearing one of the sheets from the linen closet, the soldier in ODST fatigues wrapped the makeshift bandages around his most severe wounds and wrapping his sidearm's thigh holster into its proper place and inserting his modified and silenced M6D with a soft click. Moving towards the door at the end of the room, he paused and grabbed a remote Com device and linked it to his Neural Interface.

Opening the door to the closet; he walked over to his stack of weapons in the corner and examined them all for a second, pausing on each one before coming to a selection. Seeing as his armour was literally a piece of melted scrap minus his rucksack, he would need to be reliant on Athena for Intel more than ever. Reaching over to her holographic pedestal, a holographic keyboard appeared and he began to enter in silent command threads to which she responded in the affirmative before transferring herself into the city infrastructure. Moving out into the hallway, he braced his M7S against his shoulder as he checked for any signs of movement or tampering with his traps that he had set in the hallways. Continuing to move forward; the soldier stopped at every major intersection and possible opening; recalling vaguely that several Jackal snipers had been watching him when he entered the hotel; he made sure to stay away from any and all windows that were in the hotel.

He stopped. There was movement over there. Wait, now it was behind him. Turning to face the new enemy, he braced himself against the forearm of the Skirmisher as it tried to bring its Needler like blade down on his stomach. Grabbing the wrist of the vulture like creature, he twisted and broke it as he grabbed the blade and stabbed it into the head of the avian creature, pushing it off of him and drawing his combat knife to face the other skirmishers that were bound to be there. The other members of the jackal squad squawked at the armed human as he braced his sidearm against his knife hand.

Then, as if by mutual consent, the jackals charged him. Firing a short into the lead jackals head, the soldier rolled backwards as he drove his knife into the knee of the next skirmisher as he snapped its neck while simultaneously firing a shot flawlessly in to the head of the final jackal as everything came to a stop. Nothing moved except for the lone human as he ensured that the jackals were all dead with well placed headshots. Moving over to the fallen SMG, he picked it up and began to inspect it for any damage. Finding nothing wrong, he moved over to the next hallway; more cautious than ever before. Seeing movement, he fired a burst from the silenced SMG and watched as a cloaked grunt fell to the ground. Hearing footsteps, the soldier turned around and moved the energy sword enough that it only cut a line into his torso instead of taking his arm off. This took the elite by surprise and the human soldier quickly used this to his advantage as he kneed the stunned elite's genitals and drew his sidearm only to fire its HE rounds into the unshielded biped. As the body began to fall towards the ground in slow motion, he turned around and drew his combat knife as he threw it into the other elite's wrist, snatched it out and jabbed into the throat of the two meter tall alien. Grabbing the plasma rifle at the elite's side, he turned it towards the last enemy in the room and fired just short of overheating. The slagged and molten body of the final elite hit the ground as the soldier staggered against the wall clutching his side. Reaching into his pack, the soldier removed some biofoam and traced the line in his side before sprinting back towards the room where the sleeping UNSC officer was. When he reached the door he paused; waiting for a few seconds while listening for any movement or noise in the room before opening the door.

30 minutes later…. 1630 Local time.

"So, I did some digging. And there's an ONI nuclear fallout bunker 5 klicks from here." Athena reported over the com as the pair moved into a darkened alleyway.

"Roger" Asa replied, seeing as the soldier hadn't spoken a single word since she had woken up. "We'll head over there."

Turning towards the heavily laden ODST, she asked "You got that?"

He just nodded and adjusted the rucksack on his back as he braced the sniper rifle against his chest and fired a shot, causing a jackal to fall from a nearby building and hit the ground with a solid crunch as the avian bones were pulverized.

"Tango down." He signaled with his hands as he swapped his sniper rifle out for his sidearm once again.

Moving into the street, they proceeded to locate at least one functional vehicle left from the aftermath of the evacuation and death.

"No!" his hands signaled.

"Come one!" Asa argued, "It isn't that bad."

"No!" He signaled again. "I refuse to enter the vehicle."

"I can and will order you to get in." She grew frustrated, seeing as the argument had gone on for the past five minutes.

The soldier sighed as he climbed into the neon pink civilian vehicle. This was SOO ruining the image for all UNSC soldiers everywhere. As Asa turned the engine over and shifted into first he glared at her; His gaze now hidden behind silver reflective lenses instead of a polarized visor.

Several minutes later…

The vehicle finally gave out as they reached the building with the bunker located in the basement as they pulled into the perfect position to see the Covenant trying to cut through the door of the building.

"Stay here." His hands flashed as he stepped out of the vividly feminine vehicle. He was now holding an MA5B instead of his traditional sniper rifle or M7S and slowly sneaked behind the first elite, kicking it in the knee and driving his knife into it's mandibles as he turned and emptied his Assault rifle's clip into the back of another Elite Minor. Turning, he withdrew his knife from the mouth of the dead elite at his feet and flicked the blood off of it before calmly sheathing his blade. Drawing his sidearm once again, he felled the rest of the enemies without a single sound to show for the amount of death he had just left in his wake. Turning towards the gaping Ensign, he beckoned her over to the doorway as he grabbed the spent Assault rifle and placed it into the duffel bag once more as he placed his SRS into its proper place onto his back.

Joining the officer at the door, he tapped in an override code and sent an UNSC identification code before watching the door slide open, revealing a grizzled old Marine with a cigar stub in his mouth and a DMR in his hand.

"Well it seems the good Lord has answered our prayers." He said off to the side. "Jenkins, get your ass over here and greet our two guests properly."

"Yeah yeah Sarge." The younger man with hardened eyes replied. "As long as you get the flip music crap turned off."

"That's part of your history son." The grizzled black man retorted. "This is what we're fighting to protect."

"Maybe that's what _you're_ fighting to protect Sarge." The young man smugly replied. "But if the Covenant want to wipe out his particular part of my history that's fine by me."

"Ignore the smartass and welcome to the place you can now call home." He said with a pearly white smile. "Names Johnson."

_**Author's note: Well, college finals are coming up and I'm going to be busy once again. Life just doesn't seem to let up but I'll update as often as possible. And yes, I absolutely had to introduce Johnson into this fic. I mean, after all what's a good Halo Fanfiction without Johnson and his cracks? I don't generally condone cussing, but Johnson will be the exception to that rule in this fanfiction. Not to mention I understand that soldiers cuss and I will be trying to write as authentically as possible while keeping a minimum on the vulgarity.**_


End file.
